Single-channel or multi-channel audio control interface

ABSTRACT

A method of processing audio may include receiving, by a computing device, a plurality of real-time audio signals outputted by a plurality of microphones communicatively coupled to the computing device. The computing device may output to a display a graphical user interface (GUI) that presents audio information associated with the received audio signals. The one or more received audio signals may be processed based on a user input associated with the audio information presented via the GUI to generate one or more processed audio signals. The one or more processed audio signals may be output to, for example, one or more output devices such as speakers, headsets, and the like.

RELATED CASES

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/020,928 filed on Jul. 3, 2014, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to single- or multi-channel audiogeneration, and more particularly, to techniques for recording audiowith a computing device.

BACKGROUND

Advances in technology have resulted in smaller and more powerfulcomputing devices. For example, there currently exist a variety ofportable personal computing devices, including wireless telephones suchas mobile and smart phones, tablets and laptop computers that are small,lightweight, and easily carried by users. These devices can communicatevoice and data packets over wireless networks. Further, many suchdevices incorporate additional functionality such as a digital stillcamera, a digital video camera, a digital recorder, and an audio fileplayer. Also, such devices can process executable instructions,including software applications, such as a web browser application, thatcan be used to access the Internet. As such, these devices can includesignificant computing capabilities. For example, a computing device,such as a wireless telephone, may include one or more microphones tocapture audio signals for storage and playback. As another example, acomputing device may record multiple channels of audio simultaneously inreal-time. A user of the computing device may select when to startcapturing the audio signal and when to stop capturing the audio signal.

SUMMARY

Mobile computing devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops,“phablets,” convertibles, and wearable computing devices areincreasingly incorporating the ability to record multiple channels ofaudio in real-time. These mobile computing devices may include amicrophone array that enables the analog capture of a plurality ofdifferent audio channels. This disclosure generally relates totechniques for recording real-time, single- or multi-channel audio usinga mobile computing device. This disclosure also generally relates totechniques for providing feedback to a user regarding audio duringplayback or in real-time as the audio is being recorded. By providingreal-time feedback or feedback during playback, a user's experience maybe enhanced, the quality of the playback may be enhanced, or the qualityof the captured audio may be enhanced. For example, this disclosuredescribes techniques for enabling users of mobile computing devices toadjust parameters associated with audio channels in real-time.

In one example, a method may include receiving, by a computing device, aplurality of real-time audio signals outputted by a plurality ofmicrophones communicatively coupled to the computing device. The methodmay include outputting, to a display, a graphical user interface (GUI)for presenting audio information associated with the received audiosignals, processing one or more of the received audio signals based on auser input associated with the audio information presented via the GUIto generate one or more processed audio signals, and outputting the oneor more processed audio signals.

In another example, a method may include receiving, by a computingdevice, a plurality of real-time audio signals outputted by a pluralityof microphones communicatively coupled to the computing device. Themethod may include outputting, to a display, a graphical user interface(GUI) for presenting noise information associated with one or more ofthe received audio signals. The method may include processing one ormore of the received audio signals based on a user input associated withthe noise information presented via the GUI to generate one or moreprocessed audio signals, and outputting the one or more processed audiosignals.

In another example, an apparatus may include a memory, and one or moreprocessors configured to receive a plurality of real-time audio signalsoutputted by a plurality of microphones, and generate audio informationassociated with the received audio signals for storage in the memory.The one or more processors may be configured to output, for display,graphical content of a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting theaudio information associated with the received audio signals, processone or more of the received audio signals based on a user inputassociated with the audio information presented via the GUI to generateone or more processed audio signals, and output the one or moreprocessed audio signals.

In another example, an apparatus may include a memory, and one or moreprocessors configured to receive a plurality of real-time audio signalsoutputted by a plurality of microphones, and generate noise informationassociated with the received audio signals for storage in the memory.The one or more processors may be configured to output, for display,graphical content of a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting thenoise information associated with one or more of the received audiosignals, process one or more of the received audio signals based on auser input associated with the noise information presented via the GUIto generate one or more processed audio signals, and output the one ormore processed audio signals.

In another example, a device may include means for receiving a pluralityof real-time audio signals outputted by a plurality of microphonescommunicatively coupled to the computing device, means for outputting agraphical user interface (GUI) that presents audio informationassociated with the received audio signals, means for processing one ormore of the received audio signals based on a user input associated withthe audio information presented via the GUI to generate one or moreprocessed audio signals, and means for outputting the one or moreprocessed audio signals.

In another example, a device may include means for receiving a pluralityof real-time audio signals outputted by a plurality of microphonescommunicatively coupled to the computing device, means for outputting agraphical user interface (GUI) that presents noise informationassociated with one or more of the received audio signals, means forprocessing one or more of the received audio signals based on a userinput associated with the noise information presented via the GUI togenerate one or more processed audio signals, and means for outputtingthe one or more processed audio signals.

In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving instructions stored thereon that, when executed, may cause one ormore processors of a computing device to receive a plurality ofreal-time audio signals outputted by a plurality of microphones, output,to a display, graphical content of a graphical user interface (GUI) forthe display to present noise information associated with one or more ofthe received audio signals, process one or more of the received audiosignals based on a user input associated with the noise informationpresented via the GUI to generate one or more processed audio signals,and output the one or more processed audio signals.

In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving instructions stored thereon that, when executed, may cause one ormore processors of a computing device to receive a plurality ofreal-time audio signals outputted by a plurality of microphones, output,to a display, graphical content of a graphical user interface (GUI) forthe display to present audio information associated with the receivedaudio signals, process one or more of the received audio signals basedon a user input associated with the audio information presented via theGUI to generate one or more processed audio signals, and output the oneor more processed audio signals.

The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features, objects, andadvantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the description,drawings, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a computing environment in accordance with one ormore techniques of this disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-C is a diagram, when viewed together, of an example of multipleviews of a device for performing multi-channel audio generation;

FIGS. 3A-G are various examples of a graphical user interface inaccordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure describes various examples of a computing device (e.g.,communication devices and other devices) configured to record single- ormulti-channel audio in real-time, and to adjust parameters associatedwith the multi-channel audio in real-time or during playback. Currently,many computing devices, such as laptops, smartphones, phablets, wearablecomputing devices, tablets, are capable of recording single- ormulti-channel audio. Recording multi-channel audio may also be referredto as surround sound recording, which may be accomplished, for example,using advanced audio coding (AAC) or other codec. Surround soundrecording may have a number of different channel configurations andformat, such as 5.1, 7.1, and 9.1 channel audio formats or othersurround sound audio recording formats. These computing devices may alsobe capable of surround sound audio playback (e.g., real-time playback ornon-real-time playback) of recorded surround sound audio. The playbackmay involve the use of an output interface (e.g. using Bluetooth, HDMI(High Definition Media Interface), or another output interface) totransmit audio information to output devices, such as speakers.

To perform surround sound recording (SSR or multi-channel recording), acomputing device may use a plurality of physical microphones. Theplurality of microphones may be referred to as a “microphone array.”Each microphone may record audio signals for one or more channels ofaudio. For example, one microphone may record sound for a center audiochannel, and another microphone may record sound a left audio channel.

However, conventional SSR systems and SSR-capable devices do not providefeedback to a user of the device in real-time during recording or duringplayback. SSR-capable devices also do not allow user input in real-timeduring recording to effectuate changes to the recording in real-time. Insome examples, one or more techniques of this disclosure enable a device(e.g., an SSR-capable device) to receive user input in real-time whilerecording audio with one or more microphones (e.g., while performingSSR). In other examples, one or more techniques of this disclosureenable a device (e.g., an SSR-capable device) to receive user inputduring playback of previously recorded audio. In other examples, one ormore techniques of this disclosure enable a device (e.g., an SSR-capabledevice) to receive user input in real-time while recording audio withone or more microphones (e.g., while performing SSR) and subsequentlystore the resultant real-time audio as modified or not modified forlater playback in addition to or in lieu of presenting the resultantreal-time video.

In some examples, one or more techniques of this disclosure enable acomputing device (e.g., an SSR-capable device) to output information toa user via a graphical user interface (GUI) presented on a display ofthe device in real-time while recording audio with one or moremicrophones or during playback of previously recorded audio. Forexample, the device may display the GUI in response to receiving a userinput requesting activation of a multimedia application. The informationpresented to the user via GUI (or by GUI or through GUI, for example)may relate to, among other things, any facet of audio recordation orplayback. For example, the information may be audio-related feedback.The GUI may include information concerning or otherwise related to anymicrophone, any output device, any channel, any audio-signal output by amicrophone, and any processing of recorded audio. The GUI may includeone or more graphical representations so a user may visualize audioinformation relating to the recordation audio on a display. Theaudio-related feedback may inform the user of various aspects relatingto the recording, real-time playback, or playback of previously recordedcontent). The user, or the device when configured as such, may make adetermination based on the audio information to alter, modify, otherwisechange the audio during playback (whether real-time or not).

The term “channel” is used at times to indicate a signal path and atother times to indicate a signal carried by such a path, according tothe particular context.

References to “audio signal” may, depending on the context, meandifferent things. For example, an audio signal received, transduced, orotherwise captured by a microphone may be considered an audio signal or,more specifically, one or more sound waves. As another example, anoutput of a microphone may be an audio signal representative of sound,such as a received sound wave or combination of sound waves. An analogsignal output by a microphone may, depending on the complexity of themicrophone, may be an analog or digital representation of a receivedsound wave or combination of sound waves. The analog or digitalrepresentation may be analog or digital signal such that an audio signaloutput by a microphone may be in the form of an analog or digitalsignal. For example, a microphone may be configured to receive an audiosignal in the form of one or more sound waves and output an audio signalin the analog or digital domain.

As disclosed throughout this disclosure, real-time audio is to bedistinguished from playback of previously recorded audio. Real-timeaudio or playback, depending on the context, may refer to the recordingof audio or the real-time presentment of the audio recorded inreal-time. Playback, depending on the context, may refer to audio thatwas previously recorded in real-time but saved or otherwise stored inmemory for later playback. It is understood that recording audio usingone or more microphones may result in the device using temporary memoryspace (e.g., buffer space), permanent memory space (e.g., hard drivespace), or a combination thereof accessible to one or more processors ofa device to provide real-time presentment of recorded audio. In someexamples, as audio is being recorded, the audio may be processed by thedevice for immediate or relatively immediate output to one or morespeakers. While memory space of the device may be used for variousprocessing of the recorded audio, processing delays are not intended tomean that there is not real-time presentment of recorded audio, asopposed to playback. In some examples, the term “recorded” andvariations thereof may mean “transduced” or otherwise “captured” alongwith their respective variations. In other examples, the term “recorded”and variations thereof may mean “transduced” or otherwise “captured” andvariations thereof; and that the “recorded” audio is stored in memoryspace for later playback despite possibly being processed for real-timepresentment as well. In other words, real-time presentment of recordedvideo is meant to refer to techniques being applied as the audio isbeing recorded. Playback, depending on the context, refers to the casewhere the audio has already been recorded, and generally well beforeplayback.

References to a “location” of a microphone of a multi-microphone audiosensing device indicate a location of a center of an acousticallysensitive face of the microphone, unless otherwise indicated by thecontext. Unless otherwise indicated, the term “series” is used toindicate a sequence of two or more items. The term “logarithm” is usedto indicate the base-ten logarithm, although extensions of such anoperation to other bases are within the scope of this disclosure. Theterm “frequency component” is used to indicate one among a set offrequencies or frequency bands of a signal, such as a sample of afrequency domain representation of the signal (e.g., as produced by afast Fourier transform) or a subband of the signal (e.g., a Bark scaleor mel scale subband).

In some examples, one or more techniques of this disclosure equallyapply to single-channel audio. For example, examples includingmulti-channel may equally apply to single-channel depending on thecontext. Accordingly, while the term single-channel may not appearthroughout this disclosure, one or more techniques described herein maybe implemented in examples involving single-channel audio, such as whena device has one microphone or when a multi-channel signal is down-mixedto a single channel.

Unless indicated otherwise, any disclosure of an operation of anapparatus having a particular feature is also expressly intended todisclose a method having an analogous feature (and vice versa), and anydisclosure of an operation of an apparatus according to a particularconfiguration is also expressly intended to disclose a method accordingto an analogous configuration (and vice versa). The term “configuration”may be used in reference to a method, apparatus and/or system asindicated by its particular context. The terms “method,” “process,”“procedure,” and “technique” are used generically and interchangeablyunless otherwise indicated by the particular context. The terms“apparatus” and “device” are also used generically and interchangeablyunless otherwise indicated by the particular context. The terms“element” and “module” may be used to indicate a portion of a greaterconfiguration. Unless expressly limited by its context, the term“system” is used herein to indicate any of its ordinary meanings,including “a group of elements that interact to serve a common purpose.”Any incorporation by reference of a portion of a document shall also beunderstood to incorporate definitions of terms or variables that arereferenced within the portion, where such definitions appear elsewherein the document, as well as any figures referenced in the incorporatedportion.

Referring to FIG. 1, one example of a device that is operable to performsingle- or multi-channel audio generation is disclosed and generallydesignated as 102. In other examples, device 102 may have more or fewercomponents than illustrated in FIG. 1.

Device 102 includes one or more processors 103 and a data storage medium109 (e.g., temporary or permanent memory space) accessible by one ormore processors 103. The one or more processors 103 of device 102 areconfigured to execute instructions to perform corresponding processes.Accordingly, as used herein, when a process is executed or otherwiseperformed, that refers to executing one or more instructions oroperations corresponding to that process by one or more processors 103of device 102 (or other processors of other devices in other examples).For example, device 102 may include an operating system. In someexamples, the operating system may be a typical operating system, suchas a graphical operating system, found on a personal computing devicesuch as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, or the like. The operating system may be stored on data storagemedium 109.

Examples of one or more processors 103 may include, but are not limitedto, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), adigital signal processor (DSP), general purpose microprocessor,application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable logicarray (FPGA), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logiccircuitry. The one or more processors 103 may include one or more ofthese examples and other types of processors in any combination. The oneor more processors 103 may be single-core or multi-core.

Examples of data storage medium 109 may include, but are not limited to,one or more computer-readable storage media such as, but are not limitedto, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code in the form of instructions and/or data structures and thatcan be accessed by a computer or a processor. Data storage medium 109may, in some examples, be considered as a non-transitory storage medium.The term “non-transitory” may indicate that the storage medium is notembodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal. However, the term“non-transitory” should not be interpreted to mean that data storagemedium 109 is non-movable. The data storage medium 109 may include oneor more of these examples and other types of data storage mediums in anycombination.

Device 102 may include, or be coupled to, one or more input devices 105.Input devices 105 may include a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen display, orother input device. While depicted separately from one or more inputdevices 105, it is understood that display 106 constitutes an inputdevice in examples where display 106 is a touchscreen display.Similarly, while depicted separately from one or more input devices 105,it is understood that one or more microphones 104 constitute inputdevices.

Device 102 may include, or be coupled to, one or more audio outputdevices 107. One or more audio output devices 107 may include one ormore speakers. While depicted separately from one or more output devices107, it is understood that headset 112 constitutes an audio outputdevice.

Device 102 may include, or be coupled to, a plurality of microphones(e.g., a multi-microphone array). For example, the multi-microphonearray may include a first microphone 104 a, a second microphone 104 b,and a third microphone 104 c. Although FIG. 1 illustrates threemicrophones, device 102 may be coupled to more or less than threemicrophones in other examples. A plurality of microphones may be used tosupport spatial audio encoding in two or three dimensions. Examples ofspatial audio encoding methods that may be supported with amulti-microphone array may include 5.1 surround, 7.1 surround, DolbySurround, Dolby Pro-Logic, or any other phase-amplitude matrix stereoformat; Dolby Digital, DTS or any discrete multi-channel format; andwavefield synthesis. One example of a five-channel encoding includesFront-Left, Front-Right, Center, Back-Left, and Back-Right channels.

Device 102 may include, or be coupled to, a display 106, a headset 112,or both. Device 102 may include an audio analyzer 114 and a GUI 120.Audio analyzer 114 may comprise software, hardware, firmware, orcombinations thereof. Audio analyzer 114 may be stored in data storagemedium 109 accessible by one or more processors 103 of device 102. Insuch examples, any processes associated with audio analyzer 114 mayresult from execution of one or more instructions associated with audioanalyzer 114 loaded from memory 109 for execution by one or moreprocessors 103. As shown in FIG. 1, audio analyzer 114 is surrounded byhashed lines to illustrate that the one or more processors 103 mayexecute the instructions corresponding to audio analyzer 114 stored inmemory 109. In some examples audio analyzer 114 may be an applicationthat when executed by one or more processors 103 of device 102 maygenerate GUI 120, GUI data 150, or both.

GUI 120 is generated for display by the one or more processors 103 ofdevice 102. GUI 120 is communicated to display 106 for presentmentthereon. GUI data 150 stored in memory 109 may include executableinstructions that when executed may generate GUI 120 for presentment bydisplay 106. GUI data 150 may be part of audio analyzer 114. In exampleswhere audio analyzer 114 is an application, GUI data 150 may be part ofthe application, and as such, the corresponding graphical data to audioanalyzer 114. In some examples, audio analyzer 114 may be an applicationthat when executed by one or more processors 103 may result ingenerating, accessing, or executing GUI data 150. For example, accordingto some examples, the audio analyzer 114 may, upon execution, generate agraphical user interface (GUI) 120 using graphical data 150. As anotherexample, audio analyzer 114 may cause device 102 to render a userinterface, such as GUI 120. Audio analyzer 114 may provide GUI 120 todisplay 106.

GUI data 150 may include data relating to one or more input signals 108,one or more audio signals 110, or a combination thereof. As identifiedabove, audio analyzer 114 may store the GUI data 150 in a memory coupledto, or included in, the device 102. In a particular example, audiosignals 110 may be compressed and may occupy less memory than inputsignals 108.

GUI 120 may include one or more graphical representations so a user mayvisualize audio information relating to the recordation of audio on adisplay. The audio-related feedback may inform the user of variousaspects relating to the recording, real-time playback, or playback ofpreviously recorded content). The user, or the device when configured assuch, may make a determination based on the audio information to alter,modify, otherwise change the audio during playback (whether real-time ornot). For example, the user or device may adjust audio parameters, applyfilters, and more in real-time while recording audio or during playback,which may improve the quality of recorded audio (e.g., surround soundaudio). As another example, audio-related feedback presented to a uservia the device may enable a user to select an appropriate option toalter or otherwise adjust the quality of recorded audio, whether inreal-time or during playback. For example, a user may interact with GUI120 based on audio feedback information presented to the user to adjustaudio channel volume levels or other properties/parameters of audio inreal-time while audio is being recorded or during playback.

In some examples, GUI 120 may include one or more graphicalrepresentations (e.g., microphone icons) corresponding to themicrophones 104 recording audio for device 102. GUI 120 may include oneor more graphical representations (e.g., speaker icons) corresponding toaudio output devices used for outputting recorded audio. In someexamples, GUI 120 may include three graphical audio channelrepresentations (e.g., three speaker icons), one for each of microphones104 a, 104 b, and 104 c, because audio analyzer 114 may automaticallyconfigure the number of surround sound channels based on the number ofmicrophones. In other examples, three speaker icons may be displayedbecause a user selected a three-channel surround set up option from aplurality of options using GUI 120. Other examples of audio informationthat GUI 120 may include are provided throughout this disclosure sinceany audio information disclosed herein may be included by GUI 120.

During operation of device 102, audio analyzer 114 may receive aplurality of input signals (e.g., input signals 108 a, 108 b, and 108 c)from a plurality of microphones (e.g., microphones 104 a, 104 b, and 104c). For example, audio analyzer 114 may receive a input signal 108 afrom microphone 104 a, second input signal 108 b from microphone 104 b,and third input signal 108 c from microphone 104 c. Input signals 108may correspond to one or more sound sources. Each of microphones 104 a,104 b, and 104 c may transduce received sound waves into an analog ordigital audio signal. In such examples, each of the first input signals108 a, 108 b, and 108 c may be considered an audio signal, whetheranalog or digital.

User 118 may interact with device 102 via the presented GUI 120 and userinput devices 105, such as the display 106 in examples where the displayis a touchscreen. For example, GUI 120 may include one or moreselectable options depicted as 140. User 118 may select at least one ofthe selectable options 140 and the audio analyzer 114 may generate theaudio signals 110 from the input signals 108 based on the selection. Forexample, the selectable option 140 may include any graphicalrepresentation associated with any feature or process associated with,among other things, audio analyzer 114, microphones 104, output devices107, input signals 108, audio signals 110, other audio-relatedinformation, etc.

In some examples, audio analyzer 114 may be referred to as an audiogeneration application because the audio analyzer 114 may outputprocessed signals (i.e., signals on which audio analyzer conductedprocessing). In other examples, audio analyzer 114 may not only generateaudio as described herein, but may also control when audio is stored, ifat all, in memory 109 using device 102. In such examples, audio analyzer114 may also be referred to as an audio storage application. Forexample, audio analyzer 114 may store input signals 108 a, 108 b, and108 c as received from microphones 104 a, 104 b, and 104 c,respectively. As another example, audio analyzer 114 may not store inputsignals 108 a, 108 b, and 108 c as received from microphones 104 a, 104b, and 104 c. Instead audio analyzer 114 may store audio signals 110(i.e., signals output by audio analyzer 114, whether modified or not).In yet another example, audio analyzer 114 may store input signals 108a, 108 b, and 108 c as received from microphones 104 a, 104 b, and 104c; and audio analyzer 114 may also store audio signals 110. Storedsignals, whether inputs signals 108 or audio signals 110, may be usedfor playback. In such examples, audio analyzer may or may not receivethe stored signals during playback. In examples involving audio analyzer114 receiving stored signals, audio analyzer 114 may process the storedsignals in the same way as real-time signals, such as input signals 108.

User 118 may select a selectable option 140 using any input devices ofdevice 102 (including, for example, display 106). For example, audioanalyzer 114 may receive a selection 130 (or otherwise termed input data130 representative of a selection) from an input device. In one example,audio analyzer 114 may output audio signals 110 to an audio outputdevice 107, such as headset 112 or one or more speakers. The number ofchannels corresponding to an output device (e.g., two channels for astereo headset: Left and Right) may be the same as, less than, or morethan the number of microphones 104 device 102 received input from togenerate audio signals 110. User 118 may use any output device capableof playing audio signals 110 (or a subset of signals contained thereinwhen audio signals 110 includes signals for multiple channels), such asheadset 112 or speakers to monitor or listen to the audio signals 110.For example, user 118 may detect a stationary noise level of the audiosignals 110 and may use GUI 120 to select a noise suppression(attenuation) option (e.g., selectable option 140) to reduce thestationary noise level of subsequently generated audio signals 110. Inthis example and other examples, an on-the-fly or otherwise dynamiccorrection or change can be made in real-time to audio signalssubsequently received by audio analyzer 114 based on input(s) receivedfrom user 118 that were input based on past audio signals 110 output byaudio analyzer 114. It is appreciated that past audio signals 110 mayhave been then current (or real-time) audio signals 110 at the time user118 provided any input(s) to affect any processing conducted by audioanalyzer 114. In this manner, audio analyzer 114 may enable a user tomake real-time adjustments to audio as its being received and output forpresentation using one or more output devices to change (e.g., byenhancing) the quality based on the preferences of user 118.

In other examples, GUI 120 may enable the user to modify a rule setstored in memory 109 in which device 102, according to the rules,automatically effectuates changes to recorded audio based on theoccurrence of a triggering event defined by a rule (e.g., if EVENT, thenACTION). The event in a rule may be a true or false determination on thepresence of defined audio information. The action in a rule may be inresponse to a determination that the event occurred (or did not occur).For example, user 118 may define a rule such that the device mayautomatically down-mix or up-mix based on the number of in-usemicrophones and in-use audio output devices. If the numbers are equal,no change need occur. However, if during recording, for example, afive-microphone array is used with a five-speaker surround set up, arule may be processed such that the device automatically down-mixes themulti-channel audio in the event that one or more speakers becomeinoperable or are otherwise powered off. Similarly, if during recording,for example, a five-microphone array is used with a five-speakersurround set up, a rule may be processed such that the deviceautomatically up-mixes the multi-channel audio in the event that one ormore speakers become operable or are otherwise powered on.

Audio analyzer 114 may generate a plurality of audio signals (e.g.,audio signals 110) from the input signals 108 based on receiving theselection 130 of the selectable option 140, as described with referenceto FIGS. 6-13. Otherwise stated, audio analyzer 114 may generatemodified or unmodified input signals (termed audio signals 110). Bydefault, audio analyzer 114 may output unmodified input signals 108instead of audio signals 110. Audio analyzer may generate audio signalsin accordance with the process corresponding to the selected optionrepresented by input data 130. Modified input signals (i.e., audiosignals 110) refers to one or more subsequently received input signals108 being modified by audio analyzer 114 following reception of inputdata 130 in accordance with the process corresponding to the input data130. Modified input signals may refer to the sound data itself beingmodified (e.g., using a filter or mixing two or more signals 110associated with two different channels together in a multi-channelsignal), or data corresponding to or otherwise associated with the audiosignals 110, such as changing channel information so that any signalsmay be re-routed to a different output device, and the like. Forexample, a user may move, using GUI 120 and selecting an appropriateoption 140, sound being emitted from a Center speaker to another speakerto create null space around the Center speaker. As another example, GUI120 may enable a user to adjust channel volume levels (e.g., byadjusting channel gain up or down), audio positions, speaker positions,and other recording parameters. After a first modification (e.g., basedon reception of one or more user instructions represented by input data130), one or more modifications may further take place. Each time aselectable option 140 is made that affects audio processing, audioanalyzer 114 may adjust the processing of one or more input signals 108accordingly so that subsequent audio signals 110 are output according touser preferences. It is understood that while FIG. 1 depicts audiosignals 110 being output by audio analyzer 114, audio analyzer may beconfigured to out unmodified input signals 108 for one or more channelsand output modified input signals (i.e., audio signals 110) for one ormore other channels.

Audio analyzer 114 may process the input signals 108 to generate theaudio signals 110. Audio analyzer 114 may generate several differentdirectional channels (e.g., the audio signals 110) from input signals108, such as to up-mix input signals 108. For example, input signals 108may correspond to a first number of channels associated with a firstnumber (e.g., three) of microphones (e.g., the microphones 104 a-c). Theaudio signals 110 may correspond to a second number of channels and thesecond number may be higher than the first number or lower than thefirst number, the latter of which relating to an example of down-mixinginput signals 108 as opposed to up-mixing input signals 108. Forexample, audio signals 110 may correspond to five channels for a 5.1surround sound scheme. Audio analyzer 114 may up-mix the input signals108 to generate audio signals 110, such that each signal (or channel) ofaudio signals 110 may be played back (i.e., output) using a differentspeaker of a speaker array having the second number of speakers.

In some examples, audio analyzer 114 may produce filtered (e.g.,modified) signals by filtering input signals 108 based on receivinginput data 130 representative of a user selection using GUI 120, asdescribed herein. For example, analyzer may process input signals 108 asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 6-13.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-C, an example of multiple views of a device isshown in FIGS. 2A-C. The views may correspond to device 102 shown inFIG. 1.

The views include a front view 220 depicted in FIG. 2A, a rear view 230depicted in FIG. 2B, and a side view 240 depicted in FIG. 2C. The frontview 220 may correspond to a first side of device 102 that includesdisplay 106. The first side may include first microphone 104 a, secondmicrophone 104 b, third microphone 104 c, an earpiece 208, a firstloudspeaker 210 a, and a second loudspeaker 210 b.

The rear view 230 in FIG. 2B may correspond to a second side of device102 that is opposite to the first side. The second side may include acamera 206, a fourth microphone 204 d, and a fifth microphone 204 e. Theside view 240 in FIG. 2C may correspond to a third side of the device102 that connects the first side and the second side.

FIGS. 3A-G are each an example of GUI 120 of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG.3A, an example of GUI 120 is shown. In the example shown in FIG. 7, GUI120 may include a coordinate map 301 and a plurality of selectableoptions, for example, one or more sectors 302 (e.g., 302 a-e), sectorre-shapers/re-sizers 305. GUI 120 may also include one or more channelicons (e.g., 304 a-e). The channel icons may graphically represent eachaudio output device 107 configured to audio signals received from audioanalyzer 114. A user may select a sector and be presented with one ormore options. In other examples, a user may select one or more optionsand then select the one or more sectors to which the selected option isto be applied. The options may include any processing audio analyzer 114may be configured to perform.

Each sector 302 of a coordinate map 301, whether in this example orother examples, may correspond to a particular area in a particulardirection relative to the device 102 with the center of the coordinatemap 301 representing the location of device 102 (or listener locationwhether virtual or real). Each sector 302 may mutually or exclusivelycorrespond to a particular audio output device 107 in a particulardirection relative to device 102 represented by the relationship of eachsector to a channel icon. For example, sectors 302 a-302 e mayrespectively correspond or otherwise relate to channels 304 a-e.Channels 304 a-e may respectively relate to Back Right, Back Left, FrontLeft, Center, and Front Right channels. Sectors 302 a-e may respectivelyrelate to input signals 108 associated with microphones 104 a-e.

In some examples, audio analyzer 114 may determine direction of arrivalinformation corresponding to input signals 108 and may generate thecoordinate map such that each sector 302 showing the presence of soundrelates to a microphone in that particular direction. For example, audioanalyzer 114 may determine that at least a portion of input signals 108are received from a particular direction. In the example shown,coordinate map 301 includes five sectors. Coordinate map 301 maycorrespond to physical coordinates of one or more locations of one ormore sources of input signals 108. Coordinate map 301 may indicate alocation where the sources of input signals 108 are located relative todevice 102. For example, audio analyzer 114 may determine that inputsignals 108 are not received from a particular direction. A particularsector of coordinate map 301 corresponding to the particular directionmay indicate an absence of a source of input signals 108 (e.g., becausethere is no sound corresponding to that particular direction). Forexample, a particular sector may be displayed in the GUI 120 as having aparticular color, a particular shading, a particular text, a particularimage, etc. which may indicate the absence of or the presence of asource of the input signals 108 in the particular direction, whetherinput signal(s) are being received for the particular sector, the volumelevel corresponding any speaker(s) associated with the particularsector, the saturation level of any microphone associated with theparticular sector, and any other audio information. As another example,audio analyzer 114 may determine a strength (e.g., volume) of an audiosignal. Audio analyzer 114 may indicate the strength of the audio signalby a particular shade of a graphical representation in GUI 120, such asa sector or channel/speaker icon. For example, a darker shade mayindicate a higher strength.

In some examples, a count of audio signals 110 may correspond to a countof the plurality of channel icons. A count of audio signals 110 maycorrespond to a count of the plurality of sectors of coordinate map 301.Each of the plurality of channel icons may be associated with aparticular audio signal of the audio signals 110. For example, audioanalyzer 114 may generate a particular audio signal corresponding toeach of the plurality of channel icons.

In some examples, each channel 304 is not exclusively related with asector 302. For example, surround sound may be recorded using threemicrophones, which may mean that coordinate map 301 has three sectorswith five channel icons spaced around the three sectors. In thisexample, the graphical representation may serve to inform a user of howaudio analyzer 114 may up-mix to five-channel output. For example,selecting a particular channel icon may result in GUI 120 highlight thesector(s), and therefore the microphone(s) and input signal(s) withwhich that speaker is associated.

During operation, user 118 may use an input device 105 to select aparticular sector of sectors 302 a-e. In some examples, user 118 maymodify a size or shape of the selected sector by moving one or moresector resizers/reshapers 305.

User 118 may select one or more sectors 302 to disable the capturing orrecordation of sounds from any microphone(s) associated with theselected sector while other microphones unrelated to the selected sectorcontinue to capture or record sounds. In examples where sectors ofcoordinate map 301 have a one-to-one correspondence to an audio channel(e.g., represented by channel icons), disabling a sector may result indisabling the corresponding channel. In examples where two or moresectors of coordinate map 301 share correspondence to an audio channel(e.g., represented by channel icons), disabling a sector may result inaffecting a corresponding audio channel without entirely disabling thechannel such that noise is no longer processed associated with thedisabled sector and therefore not mixed by audio analyzer 114 withsounds associated with an enabled sector also associated with the samechannel.

Audio analyzer 114 may in response to receiving selection of a sector,filter one or more input signals 108 based on a sector direction of theselected sector to generate audio signals 110, as described herein. Inone example, audio analyzer 114 may filter one or more input signals 108in response to selection of a sector and in accordance with a processingoption selected by a user (e.g., move or relocate a signal, delete orremove a signal, filter a signal, etc). Any filtering, processing, oroperations performed on audio signals 108 may considered manipulation ofaudio signals 108 or any corresponding audio channel. For example, auser may manipulate each audio channel by interacting with GUI 210 byselecting any graphical representation associated with each channel.

Referring to FIG. 3B, an example of GUI 120 is shown. In this example,an example of a channel configuration menu 320 is depicted. GUI 120depicted in FIG. 3A may be as a result of user 118 configuring the audiooutput channels using the channel configuration menu. Channelconfiguration menu 320 may include a plurality of number of channelsoptions 322 to enable user 118 to specify a number of audio signals 110to be played back (e.g., generated by audio analyzer 114).

Each option of the number of channels options 322 may indicate a numberof audio signals to be generated for a multi-channel signal. Forexample, a first number of channels option (e.g., 5.1) may indicate thata first number (e.g., 5 plus 1 subwoofer) of audio signals is to begenerated, a second number of channels option (e.g., 7.1) may indicatethat a second number (e.g., 7 plus 1 subwoofer) of audio signals is tobe generated, and so on. Upon selecting the number of channels option5.1, for example, a graphical representation of 5 output channels (e.g.,speakers) may appear around coordinate map 301 in GUI 120. In otherexamples, any corresponding subwoofer channel may also appear oncoordinate map 301 in GUI 120. If the number of channels selected ishigher or lower than the number of physical microphones, audio analyzer114 may up-mix or down-mix the input signals, respectively. For example,audio analyzer 114 may interpolate or generate additional audio channelsif the number of channels selected exceeds the number of physicalmicrophones. In response to the user's selection, audio analyzer 114 maydetermine whether the number of audio output device 107 matches thenumber of microphones 104; and if not, may warn the user via GUI 120.

In some examples, GUI data 150 of FIG. 1 may store a mapping betweeneach of the number of channels options 322 (e.g., 2.1, 5.1, 7.1, 22.2,or any other channel option) and a corresponding count (e.g., 2, 5, 7,and 22 absent the corresponding subwoofer(s)). Including subwoofers, thecorresponding count for such examples may be 3, 6, 8, and 24respectively. The mapping may include default values. In this example,audio analyzer 114 may use the mapping to determine the count (e.g., 7)corresponding to the particular number of channels option (e.g., 7.1).In a particular example, the mapping may also indicate one or moredirections (e.g., left, right, center, left-surround, right-surround,left-back, and right-back) corresponding to each of the number ofchannels options 322 (e.g., 7). The mapping may also indicate an anglecorresponding to each of the one or more directions (e.g., 45 degrees,135 degrees, 90 degrees, 225 degrees, 315 degrees, 180 degrees, and 0degrees).

Referring to FIG. 3C, an example of GUI 120 is shown. In this example,an example of a noise suppression (attenuation) option 330 is shown.Noise suppression (attenuation) option 330 may be sector-, channel-, ormicrophone-specific. Noise suppression option 330 may appear in GUI 120in response to user 118 selecting one of the sectors 302 or one of thechannel/speaker representations 304. Noise suppression (attenuation)option 330 may enable one or more levels of noise suppression (e.g., 0%to 100%). For example, user 118 may use an input device 105 (e.g.,including display 106) to select the amount of noise suppression. Audioanalyzer 114 may, in response to receiving to the noise suppressionoption 330 being invoked, generate audio signals 110 by suppressingstationary noise present in input signals 108 based on the level ofnoise suppression selected. For example, audio analyzer 114 may select aparticular noise filter (e.g., stationary noise filter) based on thelevel of noise suppression and audio analyzer 114 may generate audiosignals 110 by applying the particular noise filter to the input signals108. As used herein, the term suppression may mean attenuation orequivalents thereof.

Noise suppression option 330 may enable a user to cause audio analyzer114 to generate audio signals 110 corresponding to a selected noisesuppression level. Having a user selectable noise suppression level mayenable the user to choose whether stationary noise is captured (e.g., amicrophone primarily recording noise may be disable depending on thenoise suppression selected by user 118), output by audio analyzer 114,or how the stationary noise if filtered. For example, the user maycapture sounds of waves at a beach and may reduce sounds of windcaptured during a speech.

Noise may be any unwanted sound, such as one or more unwanted soundwaves/audio signals at any combination of frequencies. For example,noise may include noise pollution caused by transportation systems andvehicles, the cacophony of city noise, or any unwanted noise in an audiosystem involving a wanted signal (e.g., signal to be processed andoutputted) as compared to an unwanted signal (e.g., signal that is to berejected or suppressed or otherwise filtered). In one example, the soundof waves at a beach may be considered unwanted noise and filtered out ofa recording. In another example, the sound of waves at the beach may notbe considered unwanted noise and therefore not filtered out of arecording.

Whether sound constitutes noise may depend on the wanted sound comparedto the unwanted sound and their relationship in amplitude andfrequency(ies). In some examples, noise may be any sound or audio signalor the like defined by a user. For example, the GUI described herein mayenable a user to select one or more sounds (e.g., city sounds, dogbarking, etc.) resulting in audio analyzer 114 outputting audio signals110 such that the audio signals 110 have been filtered to remove orsuppress the selected sound(s). In another example, the GUI describedherein may enable a user to record one or more sounds (e.g., dogbarking, cat meowing, ocean waves, etc.) to define a correspondingfilter such that audio analyzer 114 outputs audio signals 110 such thatthe audio signals 110 have been filtered to remove or suppress therecorded sound(s).

In some examples, the noise suppression option 330 may constitute a“null” out option. In response to the null out option being selected,audio analyzer 114 may suppress audio associated with one or moreselected sectors. For example, a user may select a sector to null out.The nulled out region corresponds to a region within the audio channelsat which audio analyzer suppresses audio corresponding to that region.In some examples, a user may push-and-drag to re-resize or re-shape oneor more sectors to input a null out instruction (i.e., noisesuppression/cancelation instruction). In other examples, a user mayselect a sector and be presented with, among other options, a null outoption that when selected causes audio analyzer 114 to suppress audio inaccordance with the selected suppression level (or type of filter) forthe selected sector to be suppressed, which affects the audio signals110 and therefore the sound presented to a user via in any associatedspeaker(s) 107.

In some examples, coordinate map 301 may indicate where a source ofstationary noise in the input signals 108 is located relative to device102. Audio analyzer 114 may determine a stationary noise levelassociated with the input signals 108. For example, audio analyzer 114may determine the stationary noise level based on a noisiness metric(e.g., a linear prediction coding (LPC) prediction gain) of inputsignals 108. In a particular example, a lower LPC prediction gain mayindicate a higher stationary noise level of input signals 108. Thenoisiness metric may be defined in terms of variability of input signals108 or in terms of power or energy of input signals 108. In a particularexample, audio analyzer 114 may determine a particular stationary noiselevel associated with each of input signals 108 and GUI 120 may indicatethe particular stationary noise level in a direction associated with acorresponding microphone. For example, audio analyzer 114 may determinea first stationary noise level of input signal 108 a. GUI 120 may thenindicate the stationary noise level associated with first microphone 104a. For example, GUI 120 may indicate the stationary noise level oncoordinate map 301 in a first direction corresponding to microphone 104a. GUI 120 may thus indicate to user 118 a location where a source ofstationary noise is located relative to device 102 enabling user 118 totake actions based on this audio information (i.e., noise information).For example, user 118 may move away from the source of the stationarynoise or invoke certain processing options provided by audio analyzer114.

Audio analyzer 114 may modify (e.g., increase or decrease) a noisereference level based on the level of noise suppression. Audio analyzer114 may generate audio signals 110 by applying a noise filter to inputsignals 108 to filter one or more frequency bands of the input signals108 that have an amplitude that satisfies (e.g., is higher than or islower than) the noise reference level. The noise reference level may bebased on the particular noise filter selected by the user. As “inputsignals” is used in reference to applying one or more filters thereon,it is understood that audio analyzer 114 may selectively apply the noisefilter (or any other filter) to the one or more input signals includingthe noise. In other examples, audio analyzer 114 may apply theparticular noise filter based on or regardless of the relationshipbetween each input signal and sector.

In some examples, audio analyzer 114 may apply frequency domainmodification to input signals 108 prior to applying a noise filter(e.g., stationary noise filter) to input signals 108. To illustrate,audio analyzer 114 may generate intermediate signals by applying aparticular low-pass filter, a particular high-pass filter, or aparticular band-pass filter to input signals 108. Audio analyzer 114 maygenerate audio signals 110 by applying the particular stationary noisefilter to the intermediate signals to filter one or more frequency bandsof the intermediate signals that have an amplitude that satisfies (e.g.,is higher than or is lower than) the particular noise reference level.

Audio analyzer 114 may provide generated audio signals 110 to headset112 or other output device 107 such as a speaker. User 118 may useheadset 112 to monitor or listen to the generated audio signals 110 andmay adjust the level of noise suppression by selecting (e.g., moving)the noise suppression option 330. For example, user 118 may be at abeach and may want to capture sounds of waves. In this example, user 118may reduce the level of noise suppression by moving the noisesuppression option 330 in a first direction (e.g., left). In anotherexample, user 118 may be at an outdoor conference and may want tocapture a speech of a particular speaker. The user 118 may listen to theaudio signals 110 via the headset 112 and may realize that audio signals110 have a high level of noise corresponding to the wind touching themicrophones 104 a-c. In this example, user 118 may increase the level ofnoise suppression by moving the noise suppression option 330 in a seconddirection (e.g., right). Alternatively, or in addition, user 118 maymove the device 102 to a less windy location based on receivinggraphical feedback concerning recorded audio.

Audio analyzer 114 may enable on-the-fly or otherwise dynamiccorrections or changes that can be made in real-time to audio signalssubsequently received by audio analyzer 114 based on user input datarepresentative of user selections using, for example, the GUI that wereinput based on past audio signals 110 output by audio analyzer 114. Itis appreciated that past audio signals 110 may have been then current(or real-time) audio signals 110 at the time user 118 provided anyinput(s) to cause audio analyzer 114 to conduct any processing ofsubsequently received input signals 108. In this manner, audio analyzer114 may enable a user to make real-time adjustments to audio as itsbeing received. Adjustments are made to subsequently received inputsignals (or a single input signal) by audio analyzer 114 and output forpresentation using one or more output devices 107.

Referring to FIG. 3D, an example of GUI 120 is shown. In this example,another example of noise suppression option 330 is shown. In thisexample, noise suppression option 330 is complemented by a noiseindicator 331, which indicates an amount of stationary noise (e.g.,background noise) that audio analyzer 114 detects based on processinginput signals 108 corresponding to microphones 104. As indicated above,a user may interact with noise suppression option 330 to indicate anamount of background noise (e.g., stationary noise) that audio analyzer114 is to suppress in one or more input signals 108. In some examples,GUI 120 includes a noise suppression option 330 and a noise indicatorfor each microphone 104.

In some examples, to estimate the noise level, which may be representedin the noise indicator 331, audio analyzer 114 may calculate:

SNR=scale*Σ_(i=1) ^(N)Nref(i)², where SNR=Stationary Noise Reference,Nref=magnitude spectrum of stationary noise reference, i=Frequency bin(1 to 512 if 512 size FFT is used), and scale=scale factor to be usedfor GUI representation. Audio analyzer 114 may scale the total energy ofthis final noise reference and use the final noise as the noise level inGUI, such as the value depicted in noise indicator 331.

In some examples, the noise level may be depicted using a single bar fornoise indicator 331 showing a single color (e.g., green for example). Insuch examples, the higher the green bar relative to its base, the morestationary noise there is; and the lower the green bar relative to itsbase, the less stationary noise there is. In response to applying noisesuppression, the single bar for noise indicator 331 may include a secondcolor (e.g., blue) within the same bar to show the amount of noisesuppressed. For example, assume the stationary noise level (orreference) is measured to be at a certain amount. The noise indicator331 may climb to a first height corresponding to the amount of measurednoise. Upon applying noise suppression, the height of the noiseindicator 331 would stay the same but the top of the green bar woulddrop to show that the amount of noise after noise suppression is lessthan before noise suppression. Above the green bar may be anothercolored bar (e.g., blue) starting at the top of the green bar andfilling the bar to the noise indicator 331 to the top. This blue barenables the user to quickly understand how much noise was removed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the depicted white bar may correspondto the “green” bar and the hatched-lined bar may correspond to and the“blue” bar. By checking the delta (i.e., change) between the green andblue bars, a user may notice how much stationary noise is beingsuppressed. In the green/blue bar example of noise indicator 331, thegreen bar before suppression may be based on the amount of noisecalculated using the equation above.

The green bar after suppression may be based on the amount of noisecalculated using the following equation: SNR=scale*Σ_(i=1)^(N)(NSgin(i)*Nref(i))², where Nref=magnitude spectrum of stationarynoise reference, i=Frequency bin (1 to 512 if 512 size FFT is used),NSgain=gain of stationary noise, and scale=scale factor to be used forGUI representation. In this way, if 25% noise suppression is applied,after suppression, the green bar may reduce in height by 25%. Forexample, in FIG. 3C, 50% suppression is shown; however, in FIG. 3D, 35%suppression is shown.

In some examples, a camera 111 of device 102 may be used to performscene or object detection based on, for example, a captured photo andthen analyzing the captured image with audio analyzer 114. Based on adetected scene or object, device 102 may, via GUI 120, recommend or notrecommend noise suppression to the user. FIG. 3D shows one example of adetected scene or object indication 333 and also noise suppressionrecommendation 335. In the example shown in FIG. 3D, audio analyzer 114detects a seashore, the corresponding audio for which has the sound ofrolling waves as stationary noise. Audio analyzer 114 may increase theaccuracy of scene or object detection by using sounds currently orpreviously recorded to aid the audio analyzer in determining andidentifying a scene or object for a particular image. In the exampleshown in FIG. 3D, audio analyzer may have determined the scene (orcurrent location of device 102 if processing is being conducted inreal-time) was seashore based on a capture image (e.g., a beach),currently recorded sound (e.g., waves), or both. Based on the scene,audio analyzer 114 may recommend against stationary noise suppression,as shown. No suppression may be recommended because ocean waves justlike other noises may not be considered noise (e.g., such sounds may beconsidered to add to the ambiance of recorded audio). In anotherexample, such as an indoor setting with a noisy air conditioner or fan,the scene detection algorithm may recommend stationary noisesuppression.

Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the computing device may be ableto use a camera of the computing device to perform scene or objectdetection. Based on a detected scene or object, the computing device mayrecommend or not recommend noise suppression to the user. In the exampleof FIG. 1, the computing device detects a seashore, the correspondingaudio for which has the sound of rolling waves as stationary noise.Based on the detected seashore scene, the computing device may recommendagainst stationary noise suppression. In another example, such as anindoor setting with a noisy air conditioner or fan, the scene detectionalgorithm may recommend stationary noise suppression.

In some examples, position location may be used to perform scenedetection, whether alone or conjunction with other examples of scenedetection herein (e.g., analyzing an image). For example, positionlocation may refer to coordinates of device 102 or the coordinates ofone or more microphones 104. Device 102 may be a GPS-enabled devicewith, for example, a GPS receiver configured to calculate or determine a2D position (e.g., latitude and longitude) or 3D position (e.g.,latitude, longitude, and altitude) upon receiving a requisite signal(s)(e.g., one or more satellite signals). One or more microphones 104 maybe GPS-enabled with, for example, a GPS receiver configured to calculateor determine a 2D position (e.g., latitude and longitude) or 3D position(e.g., latitude, longitude, and altitude) upon receiving a requisitesignal(s) (e.g., one or more satellite signals). Audio analyzer 114 maybe configured to receive GPS data (e.g., GPS coordinates) from device102 or one or more microphones 104.

Audio analyzer 114 may be configured to perform detection based on oneor more GPS coordinates of, for example, device 102 or one or moremicrophones 104. Based on a detected scene, such as device 102determining its position is on a beach based on one or more GPScoordinates calculated or determined before, during, or after recordingaudio, audio analyzer 114 may recommend or not recommend stationarynoise suppression. As another example, audio analyzer 114 may determinethat based on GPS coordinates of device 102, the device is in a car,train, or airplane based on a rate of travel calculated using the GPScoordinates. In such an example, audio analyzer 114 may automaticallyapply, for example, a road noise filter, railway filter, or air travelfilter. Such filters may respectively filter out common unwanted noisesassociated with such modes of travel such as road noise, railway noiseand loud train whistles, and engine noise, respectively. In yet otherexamples, GUI 120 enables a user to input a location (e.g., address,city, city and state, country, or any other identifying information) toenable audio analyzer 114 to perform scene selection or otherwiseenhance (e.g., increase the accuracy) of any scene detection performedby audio analyzer 114.

Referring to FIG. 3E, an example of GUI 120 is shown. In this example,an example of a relocation option 340 is shown. During operation, user118 may select one of the sectors 302. Subsequent to selecting sector302, GUI 120 may present a relocation option 340 among a list of otherselectable options 140. For example, relocation option 340 may berepresented in GUI 120 as part of a menu or matrix of virtual buttons.As one example use for relation option 340, user 118 may want to changefrom which audio output device(s) 107 a commentator's voice is outputfrom. The commentator may be speaking from a particular direction (e.g.,behind user 118) relative to device 102. User 118 may want to generateaudio signals 110 such that the recorded voice of the commentatorcorresponds to a particular signal or channel (e.g., a center channel).User 118 may select one or more sectors 302 with which the commentator'svoice is associated and in turn select the relocation option 340. Then,user 118 may select a sector or channel icon to which subsequent audiosignals 110 corresponding to the commentator's voice will be transferredor relocated. Other examples may involve a different order of operationconcerning when audio analyzer 114 is informed that the selectionscorrespond or relate to relocating a signal.

GUI 120 may thus enable a user to generate multi-channel audio signalssuch that an audio signal corresponding to a particular channelcorresponds to input signals received from a particular directioncorresponding to a particular sector of a coordinate map. For example,using GUI 120 and relocation option 340, a user may move or relocateaudio being output to a first audio output device 107 associated with afirst audio channel to a second, different location such that audio fromthe first audio channel is moved to a second audio output device 107associated with a second audio channel. As an example, if acommentator's voice originates from a rear channel, a user may use theGUI 120 to push, drag, or otherwise move the commentator's voice fromthe back channel to the center channel. In some examples, GUI 120enables a user to move/relocate audio by selecting the sector with whichthe commentator's voice is associated, and then the next sector selectedwould cause audio analyzer 114 to transfer audio from the first sectorto the second sector effectively moving the audio to the output device107 associated with the second sector. In other examples, GUI 120enables a user to move/relocate audio by selecting a graphicalrepresentation of an audio channel (e.g., depicted as a channel icon),and then the next graphical representation of another audio channelwould cause audio analyzer 114 to transfer audio from the first audiochannel to the second audio channel. As such, audio analyzer 114 maymove or relocate audio from a first region (e.g., sector or channel) toa second region (e.g., sector or channel). In other examples, movementof audio may include moving audio to a sector or channel while keepingthe audio at the origination sector or channel. For example, acommentator's voice may only be associated with the back channel. Usingthe relocation option 340, the commentator's voice can be moved to alsobe associated with one or more other channels.

A user may determine that directional noise should be relocated from theregion associated with user's selection point “C” in one of the sectors302 to another region (e.g., one or more other sectors 302). Forexample, as shown in FIG. 3E, a user may use an upward dragging gestureshown as the arrow from selection point “C” to indicate that the firstregion should be relocated to the region associated with the centerchannel. In this manner, GUI 120 may enable a user to selectively mixtwo or more sectors and any corresponding audio channels.

Referring to FIGS. 3F and 3G, two examples of GUI 120 is shown. In thisexample, an example of audio level (e.g., volume/amplitude level)indicators 350 is shown. FIGS. 3F and 3G are similar but show differentlevels of detail.

During operation, audio analyzer 114 may determine an output audio levelassociated with each of the audio signals 110 associated with eachchannel (for example, in a 5-channel surround setup, audio signals 110may include five signals, one for each channel). For example, audioanalyzer 114 may measure a first output audio level of a first audiosignal corresponding to channel/speaker icon 304 a, a second outputaudio level of a second audio signal corresponding to channel/speakericon 304 b, and so on. Audio analyzer 114 may measure a particularoutput audio level by applying a particular metric (e.g., root meansquare) to amplitude of a sound wave associated with the audio signal110 corresponding to each of channel/speaker icons 304 a-e.

GUI 120 may indicate the output audio level associated with each ofaudio signals 110. In a particular example, a color or other graphicalrepresentation of each channel icon (e.g., channel icons 304 a-e) mayindicate a corresponding output audio level (e.g., volume/amplitudelevel). For example, a first color of channel icon 304 d may indicate afirst output audio level (e.g., volume/amplitude level), a second colorof channel icon 304 e may indicate a second output audio level (e.g.,volume level), and so on. In one example, a darker or more intense color(e.g., bright red) may indicate a higher output audio level (e.g.,volume/amplitude level) than compared to a lighter or less intense color(e.g., light yellow) which may indicate a lower output audio level(e.g., volume/amplitude level). In some examples, GUI 120 may include athree-dimensional (3D) plot (e.g., a 3D mesh plot) indicating the outputaudio level associate with each of audio signals 110. In anotherexample, graphical volume bars may be positioned above eachchannel/speaker icon 304 to indicate the output level associated witheach audio signal 110.

Audio analyzer 114 may determine an input audio level (e.g.,volume/amplitude level) associated with each of the input signals 108.For example, audio analyzer 114 may determine a first input audio levelassociated with first input signal 108 a, a second input audio levelassociated with second input signal 108 b, a third input audio levelassociated with third input signal 108 c, and so on. Input audio levelsare depicted as audio level indicators 350. Audio analyzer 114 maymeasure a particular input audio level by applying a particular metric(e.g., root mean square) to the amplitude of an input signal associatedwith a microphone (i.e., the input signal being transduced from one ormore sound waves received by the microphone, for example). Audioanalyzer 114 may determine that a particular input audio level (e.g.,volume/amplitude) is associated with a particular microphone in responseto determining that a corresponding input signal is associated with theparticular microphone. For example, the first input audio level may beassociated with first microphone 104 a, the second input audio level maybe associated with second microphone 104 b, third input audio level maybe associated with the third microphone 104 c, and so on.

GUI 120 may indicate a noise level associated with each audio channel.In a particular example, a color or other graphical representation ofeach channel icon (e.g., channel icons 304 a-e) may indicate acorresponding noise level. For example, a first color of channel icon304 d may indicate a first noise level, a second color of channel icon304 e may indicate a second noise level, and so on. In one example, adarker or more intense color (e.g., bright red) may indicate a highernoise level than compared to a lighter or less intense color (e.g.,light yellow) which may indicate a lower noise level. In some examples,the noise information (e.g., noise levels) is spatially presented by theGUI via a dynamic graphical representation for one or more audiochannels. For example, a graphical representation may change based onthe amount of noise corresponding to the audio channel with which thegraphical representation is associated.

GUI 120 may display the input audio levels corresponding to eachmicrophone. For example, input audio indicators 350 may include a firstgraphical representation for an input audio level corresponding to thefirst input audio level, a second graphical representation for an inputaudio level corresponding to the second input audio level, a thirdgraphical representation for an input audio level corresponding to thethird input audio level, and so on. In a particular example, a size, acolor, or both, of a particular input audio level indicator or graphicalrepresentation may indicate a corresponding input audio level (e.g.,volume/amplitude). For example, a first color (e.g., white) of an inputaudio level icon may indicate that a corresponding input audio levelfails to satisfy (e.g., is below) a first audio level threshold. Asecond color (e.g., green) of the input audio level icon may indicatethat the corresponding input audio level satisfies (e.g., is greaterthan) the first audio level threshold and satisfies (e.g., is less than)a second audio level threshold. A third color (e.g., yellow) of theinput audio level icon may indicate that the corresponding input audiolevel fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than) the second audio levelthreshold and satisfies (e.g., is less than) a third audio levelthreshold. A fourth color (e.g., red) of the input audio level icon mayindicate that the corresponding input audio level fails (e.g., isgreater than) the third audio level threshold. Three audio levelthresholds are described for illustrative purposes. In a particularexample, the input audio level indicators 350 may correspond to fewerthan three or more than three audio level thresholds. The input audiolevel indicators 350 may indicate a microphone saturation alarm. Forexample, a particular color (e.g., red) may correspond to a microphonesaturation alarm (i.e., the volume/amplitude of a particular inputsignal is nearing or has exceeded the microphone's saturation levelmeaning that the input signal is about to be or is being clipped).

In some examples, GUI 120 includes a slider or other selection optionfor a user so that microphone saturation (e.g., microphone clipping) canbe avoided. For example, input audio level indicators 350 may each beassociated with a microphone level adjustment slider. By adjusting theslider down or up, a user may lower or increase the microphone gain of aparticular microphone or the gain of an audio channel. For example, asshown in FIG. 3G, GUI 120 may include gain adjusters 352. By enabling auser to adjust gain, the user may be able to avoid microphone saturationor be able to increase the volume of low volume audio channels, whichmay improve the quality of the audio the user is recording.

GUI 120 may thus provide feedback to a user regarding audio levels ofinput signals 108 received from microphones and audio signals 110corresponding to channels of a generated multi-channel signal. The usermay take actions based on the feedback. For example, the user maydetermine that one or more of the microphones are disabled based on theaudio levels of the input signals and may enable the microphonesaccordingly. The user experience may be improved as a result. As anotherexample, the user may determine that one or more of the microphones areclipping or otherwise saturated based on the audio levels of the inputsignals and may disable any offending microphone or adjust the gain ofany offending microphone. The user experience may be improved as aresult. In other examples, audio analyzer 114 may recognize that amicrophone is disabled and automatically output a notification audiosignal representative of a microphone being disabled, in an error state,or otherwise not working. This notification audio signal would enabledevice 102 to inform a user of the device during recording that one ormore microphones are disabled, in an error state, or otherwise notworking. The notification signal may be output to one or more audiochannels designated as notification channels, which may or may not belocal to the recording device (i.e., a speaker of the recording deviceor a speaker external to the device). In other examples, thenotification may additionally or alternatively be another output thatthe device is capable of providing to a user, such as haptic feedback orselect graphical information. In other examples, the notification may beincluded in any one of audio signals 110.

Referring to FIG. 3G, during operation, a user may use an input device(e.g., a mouse, a touchscreen, etc.) to select headset icon 354 to useheadset 112 as one of the output devices 107. Audio analyzer 114 mayprovide audio signals 110 to the headset 112 in response to receiving aselection of the headset icon 354. Since a headset may be stereophonic,a multi-channel signal above 2-channels may be down-mixed to amulti-channel signal having 2-channels. Audio analyzer 114 may refrainfrom providing the audio signals 110 to the headset 112 in response toreceiving another (i.e., second or subsequent) selection of the headseticon 354. In a particular example, a first color (e.g., green) of theheadset icon 354 may indicate that audio analyzer 114 is providing theaudio signals 110 to the headset 112 and a second color (e.g., white) ofheadset icon 354 may indicate that audio analyzer 114 is not (or isrefraining from) providing audio signals 110 to headset 112.

A particular image corresponding to each of the channel icons 304 a-emay indicate a corresponding output audio level, as described herein.For example, a first image corresponding to a first one of channel icons304 having a first portion (e.g., most of the first image) of aparticular color (e.g., blue) may indicate a first output audio level(e.g., high), a second image corresponding to a second one of channelicons 304 having a second portion (e.g., about half of the second image)of the particular color (e.g., blue) may indicate a second output audiolevel (e.g., medium), and a third image corresponding to a third one ofchannel icons 304 having a third portion (e.g., none of the secondimage) of the particular color (e.g., blue) may indicate a third outputaudio level (e.g., none or low).

Audio analyzer 114 may determine a stationary noise level of the audiosignals 110, as shown in FIG. 3G. In some examples, the stationary noiselevel shown in FIG. 3G may populate in GUI 120 upon selection of one ofthe sectors 302 or channels 304. In such examples, the stationary noiselevel corresponds to a specific sector or channel. In other examples,the stationary noise level shown in FIG. 3G may correspond to the noiselevel across all audio signals 110 (or input signals 108). For example,audio analyzer 114 may determine the stationary noise level based on anoisiness metric (e.g., a linear prediction coding (LPC) predictiongain) of the audio signals 110 (or input signals 108). In a particularexample, a lower LPC prediction gain may indicate a higher stationarynoise level of audio signals 110. The noisiness metric may be defined interms of variability of the audio signals 110 or in terms of power orenergy of the audio signals 110. Output noise level indicator 356 mayindicate the stationary noise level of one or more audio signals 110 (orone or more of input signals 108). As one example, a height of aparticular color (e.g., red) of the output noise level indicator 356 mayindicate the stationary noise level of the audio signals 110.

User 118 may move the noise suppression option 330 in a first direction(e.g., down) to decrease a noise suppression level or may move the noisesuppression option 330 in a second direction (e.g., up) to increase thenoise suppression level. User 118 may move the noise suppression option330 to adjust the noise suppression level. Audio analyzer 114 maygenerate the audio signals 110 based on the noise suppression level. Theoutput noise level indicator 356 may indicate the stationary noise levelof the audio signals 110 or input signals 108. The output noise levelicon 356 may thereby provide feedback to the user 118 regarding aneffect of the selected noise suppression level on the stationary noiselevel of the audio signals 110 or input signals 108. Noise levelindicator 356 may be presented in real-time such that it indicates anamount of background noise (also termed stationary noise) that ispresent within the currently recorded audio. In some examples, noiselevel indicator 356 may be the same or otherwise be presented similarlyto noise indicator 331. For example, noise level indicator 356 maysimilarly include a green/blue bar arrangement to enhance visualizationof measured noise compared to the amount noise remaining following noisesuppression.

Each of the one or more gain adjusters (or gain options) 352 may beassociated with a particular microphone. For example, a first gainoption of the one or more gain options 1308 may correspond to the firstmicrophone 104 a of FIG. 1, a second gain option of the one or more gainoptions 1308 may correspond to the second microphone 104 b, and so on.User 118 may select a particular gain option to adjust a level of gainassociated with a corresponding microphone. For example, user 118 maymove the first gain option in a first direction (e.g., up) to increase afirst level of gain associated with the first microphone 104 a. In aparticular example, the particular gain option may correspond to theselectable option 140. For example, audio analyzer 114 may receiveselection 130 indicating that user 118 selected the particular gainoption. The selection 130 may also indicate a level of gaincorresponding to the particular gain option. For example, selection 130may indicate that user 118 moved the particular gain option a firstdistance in a first direction. The first distance may correspond to afirst change amount and the first direction may indicate that acorresponding level of gain is to be increased (or decreased). Audioanalyzer 114 may determine that the first level of gain corresponding tothe particular gain option is to be increased (or decreased) by thefirst change amount based on the selection 130. Audio analyzer 114 mayincrease (or decrease) the level of gain of the corresponding microphoneby the first change amount. Subsequently, the input audio levelindicators 350 may be updated to indicate the input audio levelcorresponding to the microphone having had its gain changed. The inputaudio level indicators 350 may thereby provide feedback to the user 118regarding an effect of the selected level of gain on the first inputaudio level corresponding to the microphone.

GUI 120 may thus provide feedback to a user during multi-channel audiogeneration. The user may make selections to modify the multi-channelaudio generation based on the feedback, thereby improving a userexperience and quality of the generated multi-channel audio.

Each GUI 120 illustrated in the figures of this disclosure may includefewer components or more components (e.g., graphical representations,selectable graphical representations, etc) than illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a particular illustrative example ofa method 400 of multi-channel audio generation is shown. In the exampleshown, one or more steps may be performed by audio analyzer 114.

The method 400 includes receiving (402), at a first device, a firstplurality of input signals from a plurality of microphones. For example,audio analyzer 114 of the device 102 may receive input signals 108 frommicrophones 104 a-c.

The method 400 also includes displaying (404), at the first device, agraphical user interface. The graphical user interface may include aselectable option to enable the user to interact with audio analyzer114. For example, a user may interact with the representations of thegraphical audio channels as presented on display 106 to adjust, amongother things, audio recording parameters or audio processing parameters.Audio analyzer 114 of the device 102 may display GUI 120 as describedherein.

The method 400 further includes receiving (406) a selection of theselectable option. For example, audio analyzer 114 of device 102 mayreceive a selection 130, as described herein.

The method 400 also includes generating (408) a second plurality ofaudio signals from the first plurality of input signals based onreceiving the selection. For example, audio analyzer 114 may generateaudio signals 110 from input signals 108 based on receiving theselection 130, as described herein. Each of the second plurality ofaudio signals may be associated with a particular direction. Each of theaudio signals 110 may be associated with a particular direction (e.g.,left, right, center, left-surround, or right-surround), as describedherein.

The method 400 further includes sending (410) the second plurality ofaudio signals to a headset (or other output devices 107). For example,audio analyzer 114 of may send audio signals 110 to the headset 112 (orother output devices 107), as described herein.

The method 400 also includes storing (412) the second plurality of audiosignals in memory. For example, audio analyzer 114 may store audiosignals 110 in the GUI data 150 or information associated with orotherwise corresponding to the audio signals 110 in the GUI data 150.GUI data 150 may be stored in a memory coupled to, or included in,device 102.

The method 400 may enable generation of a multi-channel audio signal(e.g., the second plurality of audio signals) from a first plurality ofinput signals based on receiving a selection of a selectable option of aGUI. The method 400 may thus enable interactive generation of themulti-channel audio signal, thereby improving user experience andquality of the generated multi-channel audio signal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure. In the example shown inFIG. 5, a computing device may receive (500) a plurality of real-timeaudio signals outputted by a plurality of microphones communicativelycoupled to the computing device. For example, one or more of theplurality of microphones may be communicatively coupled to the computingdevice such that they are built into the device. As another example, oneor more of the plurality of microphones may be communicatively coupledto the computing device such that they are not built into the device(e.g., a peripheral microphone).

The computing device may output (502), to a display, a graphical userinterface (GUI) that presents audio information associated with thereceived audio signals. For example, the audio information may bereal-time audio information. As some additional examples that may beused together in any combination or separately from one another, theaudio information may include information related to each of thereal-time audio signals, each of the plurality of microphones, one ormore output devices, volume levels relating to one or more outputdevices, saturation levels of one or more microphones, or noise levels.Other examples are identified in this disclosure.

One or more of the received audio signals may be processed (504) basedon a user input associated with the audio information presented via theGUI to generate one or more processed audio signals. For example, one ormore processors of the computing device may process the received audiosignals. As one example, one or more processors of the computing devicemay process the received audio signals to up-mix or down-mix thereceived audio signals. The up-mixing or down-mixing may be based on achannel configuration selection from the plurality of channelconfiguration options presented via the GUI. As another example, ifthere are two microphones and the channel configuration selection isindicative of three output devices (e.g., three speakers), the one ormore processors may up-mix the two audio-signals from the twomicrophones into a three-channel multi-channel signal configured for usewith the three output devices. As another example, if there are threemicrophones and the channel configuration selection is indicative of twooutput devices (e.g., two speakers), the one or more processors maydown-mix the three audio-signals from the three microphones into atwo-channel multi-channel signal configured for use with the two outputdevices.

As another example, one or more processors of the computing device mayprocess the received audio signals to filter the received audio signals.The filtering may be based on a noise suppression selection from the oneor more noise suppression options presented via the GUI.

As another example, one or more processors of the computing device mayprocess the received audio signals to process a first audio signal ofthe plurality of audio signals such that the first audio signal isassociated with a first audio channel before processing and the firstaudio signal is associated with a second audio channel after processing.As yet another example, one or more processors of the computing devicemay process the received audio signals to process a first audio signalof the plurality of audio signals such that the first audio signal isonly associated with a first audio channel before processing and thefirst audio signal is only associated with a second audio channel afterprocessing.

One or more processed audio signals may be output (506). For example,one or more processed audio signals may be output to an output devicesuch as a speaker or headset.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure. In the example shown inFIG. 6, a computing device may receive (600) a plurality of real-timeaudio signals outputted by a plurality of microphones communicativelycoupled to the computing device. For example, one or more of theplurality of microphones may be communicatively coupled to the computingdevice such that they are built into the device. As another example, oneor more of the plurality of microphones may be communicatively coupledto the computing device such that they are not built into the device(e.g., a peripheral microphone). In some examples, the computing devicemay generate audio information associated with the received audiosignals for storage in a memory. For example, the memory may be anymemory disclosed herein, such as a memory associated with one or more ofthe plurality of microphones, a memory associated with an interfaceassociated with one or more of the plurality of microphones, a memoryassociated with a CPU, GPU, or other processor, a system memory, and thelike. The memory may be a combination of one or more memories describedin this disclosure. The memory may be internal or external. For example,the memory may be internal to a CPU, GPU, or other processor, or thememory may be external to a CPU, GPU, or other processor. The memory mayconstitute temporary memory space, permanent memory space, or acombination thereof.

The computing device may output (602), to a display, a graphical userinterface (GUI) that presents noise information associated with one ormore of the received audio signals. For example, the noise informationmay be real-time audio information associated with one or more of thereceived audio signals. As another example, the noise informationpresented via the GUI includes information related to the amount ofnoise corresponding to one or more of the received audio signals, andwherein the GUI includes one or more noise suppression options.

One or more of the received audio signals may be processed (604) basedon a user input associated with the noise information presented via theGUI to generate one or more processed audio signals. For example, one ormore processors of the computing device may process the received audiosignals. As one example, one or more processors of the computing devicemay process the received audio signals to calculate an amount of noisecorresponding to one or more of the received audio signals. As anotherexample, one or more processors of the computing device may process thereceived audio signals to filter the received audio signals based on anoise suppression selection from the one or more noise suppressionoptions presented via the GUI. In some examples, filtering may includeattenuating noise in one or more of the received audio signals.

In some examples, one or more processors of the computing device maydetect a scene corresponding to a type of location of where thecomputing device is located, determine whether to recommend noisesuppression based on the detected scene corresponding to the type oflocation, present the determined noise suppression recommendation viathe GUI, or any combination thereof. In one example, detecting a scenemay be based on one or more of an image captured by the computing deviceusing a camera or one or more of the received audio signals.

One or more processed audio signals may be output (606). For example,one or more processed audio signals may be output to an output devicesuch as a speaker or headset.

In accordance with this disclosure, the term “or” may be interrupted as“and/or” where context does not dictate otherwise. Additionally, whilephrases such as “one or more” or “at least one” or the like may havebeen used for some features disclosed herein but not others; thefeatures for which such language was not used may be interpreted to havesuch a meaning implied where context does not dictate otherwise.

The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented, at leastin part, in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.For example, various aspects of the described techniques may beimplemented within one or more processors, including one or moremicroprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), orany other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry, as well asany combinations of such components. The term “processor” or “processingcircuitry” may generally refer to any of the foregoing logic circuitry,alone or in combination with other logic circuitry, or any otherequivalent circuitry. A control unit including hardware may also performone or more of the techniques of this disclosure.

Such hardware, software, and firmware may be implemented within the samedevice or within separate devices to support the various techniquesdescribed in this disclosure. In addition, any of the described units,modules or components may be implemented together or separately asdiscrete but interoperable logic devices. Depiction of differentfeatures as modules or units is intended to highlight differentfunctional aspects and does not necessarily imply that such modules orunits must be realized by separate hardware, firmware, or softwarecomponents. Rather, functionality associated with one or more modules orunits may be performed by separate hardware, firmware, or softwarecomponents, or integrated within common or separate hardware, firmware,or software components.

The techniques described in this disclosure may also be embodied orencoded in an article of manufacture including a computer-readablestorage medium encoded with instructions. Instructions embedded orencoded in an article of manufacture including a computer-readablestorage medium encoded, may cause one or more programmable processors,or other processors, to implement one or more of the techniquesdescribed herein, such as when instructions included or encoded in thecomputer-readable storage medium are executed by the one or moreprocessors. Computer readable storage media may include random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory(PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electronicallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, a harddisk, a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a floppy disk, a cassette, magneticmedia, optical media, or other computer readable media. In someexamples, an article of manufacture may include one or morecomputer-readable storage media.

In some examples, a computer-readable storage medium may include anon-transitory medium. The term “non-transitory” may indicate that thestorage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal.In certain examples, a non-transitory storage medium may store data thatcan, over time, change (e.g., in RAM or cache).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one or morecircuits, processors, and/or software may be used to implement themethods and processes described herein. Circuits refers to any circuit,whether integrated or external to a processing unit. Software refers tocode or instructions executable by a processing unit to achieve thedesired result. This software may be stored locally on a storage mediumof the device such as the memory of a processing unit, system memory, orother memory.

The previous description of the disclosed examples is provided to enablea person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosed examples.Various modifications to these examples will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art, and the principles defined herein may beapplied to other examples without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limitedto the examples shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scopepossible consistent with the principles and novel features as defined bythe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of processing audio data, the method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a plurality of real-time audio signals by from a plurality of microphones communicatively coupled to the computing device, wherein the plurality of real-time audio signals collectively form a surround sound recording (SSR) of the audio data; outputting, to a display, a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting audio information associated with the SSR of the audio data; receiving, via the GUI, user input specifying one or more parameters associated with the SSR of the audio data; processing one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; adjusting the SSR of the audio data based on the one or more processed audio signals to generate an adjusted SSR based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; and outputting the adjusted SSR of the audio data.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input received via the GUI includes an audio channel selection specifying a number of audio channels for output as part of the adjusted SSR of the audio data.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating the GUI to include resizable graphical representations associated with each audio channel of the number of channels.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein each graphical representation associated with each audio channel is selectable by way of the user input to enable manipulation of each audio channel with which the graphical representation is associated.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signal comprises at least one of disabling an audio channel of the audio channels, suppressing noise associated with one or more of the audio channels, or moving one or more of the received plurality of audio signals from one audio channel of the audio channels to a different audio channel of the audio channels.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio information presented via the GUI includes information related to each of the real-time audio signals, and wherein the GUI includes a respective graphical representation of each of the real-time audio signals.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the GUI includes a plurality of channel configuration options, and wherein processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals includes up-mixing or down-mixing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on the user input providing a channel configuration selection selected from the plurality of channel configuration options presented via the GUI.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the GUI includes one or more noise suppression options, and wherein processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals comprises filtering the received plurality of audio signals based on the user input providing a noise suppression selection selected from the one or more noise suppression options presented via the GUI.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals comprises: associating a first audio signal of the received plurality of audio signals with a first audio channel before processing; and associating the first audio signal with a second audio channel after processing.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first audio channel corresponds to a first output device coupled to the computing device, and wherein the second audio channel corresponds to a second output device coupled to the computing device.
 11. An apparatus comprising: a communication unit configured to receive a plurality of real-time audio signals from a plurality of microphones; a memory coupled to the communication unit, the memory being configured to store the received plurality of audio signals; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors being configured to: generate a surround sound recording (SSR) of audio data using the plurality of audio signals stored to the memory; output, for display, graphical content of a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting the audio information associated with the SSR of the audio data; receive, via the GUI, user input specifying one or more parameters associated with the SSR formed by the received plurality of audio signals; process one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; adjust the SSR of the audio data based on the one or more processed audio signals to generate an adjusted SSR based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; and output the adjusted SSR of the audio data.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the user input received via the GUI includes an audio channel selection specifying a number of audio channels for output as part of the adjusted SSR of the audio data.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate GUI to include resizable graphical representations associated with each audio channel of the number of channels.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein each graphical representation associated with each audio channel is selectable by way of the user input to enable manipulation of each audio channel with which the graphical representation is associated.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein to process the received plurality of audio signals, the one or more processors are configured to disable an audio channel of the audio channels, suppress noise associated with an one or more of the audio channels, or move one or more of the received plurality of audio signals from one audio channel of the audio channels to a different audio channel of the audio channels.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the audio information for presentment via the GUI includes information related to each of the real-time audio signals, and wherein the GUI is configured to include a respective graphical representation of each of the real-time audio signals.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the GUI includes a plurality of channel configuration options, and wherein to process the received audio signals, the one or more processors are configured to up-mix or down-mix the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on the user input providing a channel configuration selection selected from the plurality of channel configuration options presented via the GUI.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the GUI includes one or more noise suppression options, and wherein to process the received plurality of audio signals, the one or more processors are configured to filter the received plurality of audio signals based on the user input providing a noise suppression selection selected from the one or more noise suppression options presented via the GUI.
 19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein to process the received plurality of audio signals, the one or more processors are configured to; associate a first audio signal of the received plurality of audio signals with a first audio channel before processing; and associate the first audio signal with a second audio channel after processing.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first audio channel corresponds to a first output device in communication with the apparatus and the second audio channel corresponds to a second output device in communication with the apparatus.
 21. A device comprising: means for receiving a plurality of real-time audio signals from a plurality of microphones communicatively coupled to the device, wherein the plurality of real-time audio signals collectively form a surround sound recording (SSR) of the audio data; means for outputting a graphical user interface (GUI) that presents audio information associated with the SSR of the audio data; means for receiving, via the GUI, user input specifying one or more parameters associated with the SSR of the audio data; means for processing one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on a the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; means for adjusting the SSR of the audio data based on the one or more processed audio signals to generate an adjusted SSR based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; and means for outputting the adjusted SSR of the audio data.
 22. The device of claim 21, wherein the user input received via the GUI to include an audio channel selection specifying a number of audio channels for output as part of the adjusted SSR of the audio data.
 23. The device of claim 22, further comprising means for generating the GUI to include resizable graphical representations associated with each audio channel of the number of channels.
 24. The device of claim 23, wherein each graphical representation associated with each audio channel is selectable by way of the user input to enable manipulation of each audio channel with which the graphical representation is associated.
 25. The device of claim 21, wherein the means for processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals comprises one or more of: means for disabling an audio channel of the audio channels, means for suppressing noise associated with one or more of the audio channels, or means for moving one or more of the received plurality of audio signals from one audio channel of the audio channels to a different audio channel of the audio channels.
 26. The device of claim 21, wherein the GUI includes a plurality of channel configuration options, and wherein the means for processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals includes up-mixing or down-mixing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on the user input providing a channel configuration selection selected from the plurality of channel configuration options presented via the GUI.
 27. The device of claim 21, wherein the GUI includes one or more noise suppression options, and wherein processing one or more of the received audio signals includes filtering the received audio signals based on a noise suppression selection from the one or more noise suppression options presented via the GUI.
 28. The device of claim 21, wherein the means for processing the one or more of the received plurality of audio signals comprises: means for associating a first audio signal of the received plurality of audio signals with a first audio channel before processing; and means for associating the first audio signal is associated with a second audio channel after processing.
 29. The device of claim 28, wherein the first audio channel corresponds to a first output device coupled to the device, and the second audio channel corresponds to a second output device coupled to the device.
 30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a computing device to: receive a plurality of real-time audio signals outputted by a plurality of microphones communicatively coupled to the computing device, wherein the plurality of real-time audio signals collectively form a surround sound recording (SSR) of the audio data; output, to a display, graphical content of a graphical user interface (GUI) for the display to present audio information associated with the SSR of the audio data; receive, via the GUI, user input specifying one or more parameters associated with the SSR of the audio data; process one or more of the received plurality of audio signals based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; adjusting the SSR of the audio data based on the one or more processed audio signals to generate an adjusted SSR based on the one or more parameters specified in the user input received via the GUI; and output the adjusted SSR of the audio data. 